SAN Miguel held off a Magnolia rally to capture a 98-91 win on Friday and stay unbeaten in the PBA 48th Season Philippine Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Timely threes by CJ Perez and Chris Ross enabled the Beermen to survive a Hotshots fightback that saw the latter nearly raze a 20-point deficit.
The Beermen now have an 8-0 win-loss record, stepping closer to claiming a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
SMB also moved three wins short of the first elims sweep in the league in a decade.
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Magnolia’s four-game winning streak came to an end as it fell to 5-3.
Perez finished with 25 points with two of his threes coming in the fourth quarter. He nailed the dagger at the final 1:03-mark to extend San Miguel’s lead to 95-89.
Ross had 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from threes. He buried a trey after the Beermen’s lead went down to two, 82-80, dousing the Hotshots rally.
The Beermen took control of the game early, taking a 24-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Hotshots slowly chipped away at the deficit but fell short of a come-from-behind win.
“I told the players before the game that Magnolia likes to deny the passing lane. We just have to counter that and we just have to play through it,” said San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent.
“We can’t sit around on offense against Magnolia because when they deny you, that’s going to ruin your offense, which they did,” said Gallent.
Marcio Lassiter had 12 points and five rebounds, while June Mar Fajardo had nine points, seven rebounds, and seven assists for San Miguel.
Paul Lee broke out of his shooting slump to finish with a conference-high 23 points on 3-of-9 shooting from threes, while Aris Dionisio had 22 points and 10 rebounds in a game that Jio Jalalon missed due to an injury.
Magnolia will only have a one-day rest before taking on Meralco on Sunday at the Philsports Arena.
The scores:
San Miguel 98 – Perez 25, Ross 15, Lassiter 12, Tautuaa 10, Fajardo 9, Cruz 9, Brondial 9, Romeo 6, Trollano 3, Manuel 0.
Magnolia 91 – Lee 23, Dionisio 22, Sangalang 17, Barroca 9, Mendoza 8, Laput 6, Tratter 5, Dela Rosa 1, Abueva 0, Eriobu 0, Balanza 0, Escoto 0.
Quarters: 24-11; 51-40; 70-64; 98-91.
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